The challenge of growth – transferring authority to a new manager.

One of the most challenging and stressful aspects of leading a high growth business is determining the appropriate time to hire resources to manage various functions of your business. Quite often business owners make this difficult decision when they themselves become a constraint in growing, planning, managing and administering their business and tending to customers. Once the decision to bring on sildenafil pfizer 50 mg generico one or more managers has been made, the equally challenging process of identifying candidates who will thrive in your culture, hiring and on-boarding begins.

One often overlooked aspect of bringing a new manager into your organization is deciding which specific functions you are going to delegate to the manager, what they are accountable for and what decisions they are authorized to make. Since the business owner has personally led and performed nearly all aspects of the business, it is not uncommon for processes to be unwritten, dynamic and perhaps even a bit ambiguous. Placing a new manager into a situation where they are not entirely clear on what they are responsible for, what authority levels have been granted and when and how you want to be kept in the information loop or approval chain can lead to unnecessary strain on the relationship between the parties and can increase the amount of time it takes

Business owners can utilize a tool called R-A-C-I-S to assist them in deciding and documenting the key areas of responsibility, accountability and authority for key processes. The following steps are completed in developing a R-A-C-I-S matrix:

A review of major operations responsibilities and processes is performed in conjunction with a review of current position responsibilities.

Responsibilities and major processes are identified and documented to provide a concise and clear view of the related chain of accountability. Specifically, the following items are identified and documented:

Responsible – The person(s) responsible for performing the process, function or deliverable.

Accountable – The person directly accountable for the process, function or deliverable. This person generally has approval authority up to a specified amount and may need to consult others beyond this authority level.

Consulted – The person consulted before a decision is made. For delegations of authority – what approval has been delegated, the corresponding delegation level and the process for gaining additional approval.

Informed – The person(s) to be informed of decisions, operating performance and specific situations. Define the content and frequency of reporting and develop guidelines for reporting on issues and corrective action.

Perform a follow-up assessment of the effectiveness of the process workflow and approval chain 90 days after it has been implemented or if problems become evident. The types of issues you should expect to identify and resolve at this stage might include the following:

Process workflow is not thoroughly understood;

Process discipline is inconsistent and the chain of approval is not being followed;

Approval processes are manual and time consuming which slow down the negotiation and closing segments of the sales process which may lead to a loss of competitiveness. If this is the case, it is time to automate and streamline the process without losing control and accountability.

Inadequate or untimely support or information is being provided to facilitate a decision . I have often implemented service level requirements for supporting organizations and minimalist process templates to overcome these obstacles.

The R-A-C-I-S matrix can be used for virtually any process within your organization where a decision is required including pricing, credit, spending, hiring, compensation, asset acquisition, leases, contract terms and commitments, advertising, branding and customer service areas.
Documenting and developing the R-A-C-I-S matrix doesn’t need to be time consuming or overly bureaucratic. Below I have included a simple example matrix for a pricing process: Click here for a PDF version of the example.

NOTICE: B2B CFO Partners, LLC, dba B2B CFO is an Arizona limited liability company that provides advisory and consulting services. B2B CFO® partners are independent contractors and are not officers, employees or agents of, or partners or joint ventures with, the companies they serve, nor are they independent CPAs.